Self-Propelled Agricultural Product Application Implement

ABSTRACT

A self-propelled agricultural product application implement such as high clearance sprayer and/or spreader is provided that includes a product container that is sectioned. Emptying of the container sections is controlled to approximate a target front-to-back weight distribution of the implement for a substantially long period of time during a product application session. An outlet system having multiple variable outlet arrangements is arranged between the product container and an application arrangement such as a spray boom or a rotary broadcaster. The variable outlet arrangements are configured to allow the container sections to sequentially empty to maintain ballast provided by the store product at relatively later portions of the implement for a relatively longer period of time during the product application session.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 14/100,535, filed Dec.9, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to agricultural product applicationequipment such as liquid sprayers and dry product spreaders and, inparticular, to self-propelled high clearance sprayers and spreaders.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern farming practices strive to minimize operating expenses byimproving efficiency of equipment. Efficiency of agricultural productapplication equipment has been improved by providing relatively largerself-propelled implements for product application onto agriculturalfields. These large product application implements provide wide productcoverage per pass, which reduces application time by allowing product tobe applied to the agricultural fields in fewer passes. The large productapplication implements store large volumes of product to be applied tothe fields. As the product is applied onto the agricultural fields,weight distribution characteristics of the product applicationimplement(s) can change as the product is emptied from storagecompartments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to self-propelled agricultural productapplication implements such as high clearance sprayer and spreaderimplements that have sectioned product containers with controlledemptying of the sections to control weight distribution of theimplements. This may improve handling performance of implements during aproduct application session that have weight distributioncharacteristics that vary over time because of application of largevolumes of stored product onto agricultural fields, which can greatlylighten portions of the implements during use.

According to one aspect of the invention, a self-propelled agriculturalproduct application implement is provided as a product containerincluding multiple container sections that empty in a predeterminedorder to maintain ballast toward the front or back portion of theagricultural implement for a relatively longer period of time. Arearwardly disposed back container section may be emptied beforeemptying a forwardly disposed front container section. This may controlweight distribution of the implement by maintaining relatively moreweight toward the front of the implement as product is applied to theagricultural field, which may shift the weight distribution toward thefront of the implement for enhancing traction of the front of theimplement and thus also steering while climbing uphill sections of anagricultural field when compared to emptying product from a singlecontainer having a single product storing cavity.

According to another aspect of the invention, a self-propelledagricultural product application implement such as high clearancesprayer and/or spreader is provided that includes a chassis definingfront and back ends and having a frame that supports a cab, an engine,and an applicator arrangement for delivering a liquid or dry product toan agricultural field. The applicator arrangement may include a sprayerboom for delivering liquid product or a rotary broadcaster fordelivering dry product. The cab and engine may be supported at the frontend of the chassis, with the engine extending in front of a pair offront wheels and the cab arranged behind the engine. A product containerfor storing the liquid or dry product is arranged at least partiallybetween the front and back ends of the chassis. The product containermay define a vented enclosure for storing a liquid product or an openbox for storing a dry product. The product container includes multiplecontainer sections storing respective portions of the liquid or dryproduct. At least one divider wall may extend transversely with respectto the implement such that the multiple container sections are separatedfrom each other and longitudinally aligned with each other along alongitudinal axis of the implement. The container sections may bearranged within a single container body or may define separate anddiscrete enclosures arranged next to each other to define the overallcontainer. An outlet system includes multiple variable outletarrangements respectively arranged between the multiple containersections and the applicator arrangement. The outlet system is configuredfor sequentially emptying the multiple container sections. This is doneby selectively permitting product to flow from the one of the multiplecontainer sections, past a respective one of the multiple variableoutlet arrangements, and out of the applicator arrangement. This allowsrelatively more weight to be maintained for a longer period of timeduring a product application session at portions of the implement thatwould otherwise be substantially lightened as product is applied to theagricultural field.

According to another aspect of the invention, the multiple containersections define front and back sections arranged relatively closer tothe front and back ends of the implement, respectively. A divider wallmay be arranged between the front and back sections of the productcontainer. At least one intermediate section may be between the frontand back sections and a divider wall may be arranged between eachadjacent pair of the front, intermediate, and back sections.

According to another aspect of the invention, the variable outletarrangement includes an output valve movable between open and closedpositions for respectively permitting or preventing delivery of liquidproduct. This may include a needle driven by an actuator within a boreof a tube connecting the product container to a sprayer boom. Thevariable outlet arrangement may include an output gate movable betweenopen and closed positions for respectively permitting or preventingdelivery of dry product. This may include a plate driven by an actuatorwithin a bore of a tube connecting the product container to a rotarybroadcaster.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided forcontrolling weight distribution in a self-propelled agriculturalimplement for delivering liquid or dry product to an agricultural field.The method includes storing product on a self-propelled agriculturalimplement for delivery onto an agricultural field. The product is storedin a product container having a front section arranged relatively closerto a front end of the implement and a back section arranged relativelycloser to a back end of the implement. A target front-to-back weightdistribution of the implement is determined. The target front-to-backweight distribution may be defined as a 50/50 front-to-back weightdistribution of the implement. The target front-to-back weightdistribution may be defined as a 50/50 front-to-back weight distributionof the implement when the product container is full, when the productcontainer is half-empty, or when the product container is completelyempty. The front and back sections of the product container are emptiedat different times by delivering the product stored in the respectiveone of the front and back sections of the product container based atleast in part on the determined target front-to-back weight distributionof the implement. This may allow for maintaining ballast at certainlocations within the implement for a relatively long period of timeduring a product application session. This may provide ballast at thefront and/or back end(s) of the implement by selectively maintainingstored product in one(s) of the container sections while the productfrom the other sections are emptied.

According to another aspect of the invention, one of the front and backends of the implement defines a light end and the other one defines aheavy end. The emptying of the front and back sections of the productcontainer at different times defines an empty sequence having productmaintained closest to the light end while first emptying product fromthe container section that is closest to the heavy end.

According to another aspect of the invention, an initial productdelivery phase is defined that includes emptying the container sectionthat is arranged closest to the heavy end of the implement. During asubsequent product delivery phase, the container section that isarranged closest to the light end of the implement is emptied. Doingthis may define a final product delivery phase which may follow one ormore intermediate delivery phases, depending on the number of containersections within the product container.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided forcontrolling weight distribution in a self-propelled agriculturalimplement with interchangeable liquid and dry product containers fordelivering liquid or dry product to an agricultural field. The methodincludes storing liquid product in a liquid product container removablymounted on a self-propelled agricultural implement for delivery of theliquid product onto an agricultural field during a liquid productapplication session. The liquid product container has a front sectionarranged relatively closer to a front end of the implement and a backsection arranged relatively closer to a back end of the implement. A dryproduct is stored in a dry product container removably mounted on theself-propelled agricultural implement for delivery of the dry productonto an agricultural field during a dry product application session. Thedry product container has a front section arranged relatively closer tothe front end of the implement and a back section arranged relativelycloser to the back end of the implement. Target front-to-back weightdistributions of the implement for the liquid and dry productapplication sessions are determined.

The front and back sections of the liquid product container aresequentially emptied by delivering product from one of the front andback sections of the liquid product container before delivering productfrom the other one(s) of the front and back sections of the liquidproduct container based at least in part on the determined targetfront-to-back weight distribution of the implement for the liquidproduct application session. This attenuates differences between anactual front-to-back weight distribution of the implement during theliquid product application session and the target front-to-back weightdistribution of the implement during the liquid product applicationsession.

The front and back sections of the dry product container aresequentially emptied by delivering product from one of the front andback sections of the dry product container before delivering productfrom the other one(s) of the front and back sections of the dry productcontainer based at least in part on the determined target front-to-backweight distribution of the implement for the dry product applicationsession. This attenuates differences between an actual front-to-backweight distribution of the implement during the dry product applicationsession and the target front-to-back weight distribution of theimplement during the dry product application session.

Other aspects, objects, features, and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription and accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however,that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicatingpreferred embodiments of the present invention, are given by way ofillustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications maybe made within the scope of the present invention without departing fromthe spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which like reference numerals represent likeparts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a simplified top plan view of a self-propelled agriculturalproduct application implement;

FIG. 2 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a product container ofthe of a self-propelled agricultural product application implement ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a variant the productcontainer of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of emptying strategies; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a procedure for controlling weight distributionof a self-propelled agricultural product application implement by way ofsectioned product containers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and specifically to FIG. 1, aself-propelled agricultural product application implement such as highclearance sprayer and/or spreader is shown as implement 5. Implement 5may be of the high clearance sprayer and/or spreader type available fromCase IH such as those of the Patriot® or SPX™ series. As shownschematically, implement 5 includes a chassis 7 having a frame 9supporting a pair of front wheels 11 at a front portion 13 that definesa front end 15 of the implement 5. A pair of back wheels 17 is supportedat a back portion 19 that defines a back end 21 of the implement 5. Afront-to-back weight distribution of the implement 5 is schematicallyrepresented by a dashed line 22 and arrows labeled F and B on opposingsides of the dashed line 22. The dashed line 22 generally represents adivider between the front and back portions 13, 19 of the implement 5and/or its chassis 7. Arrows F and B represent weight segments or howmuch weight of the implement 5 is distributed at the front and rearportions, 13, 19 of the implement 5, respectively. The front-to-backweight distribution of the implement 5 corresponds to how much of theweight of implement 5 is carried by and applied to the ground throughthe front and back wheels 11, 17.

Still referring to FIG. 1, a cab 23 is supported by the chassis 7,generally aligned with the front wheels 11 and arranged behind an engine25 that extends in front of the front wheels 11. The engine 25 deliverspower to a hydraulic system 27 that is configured for hydrostaticallydriving the wheels 11, 17 as controlled by an operator within the cab23. The operator controls the hydraulic system 27 to vary delivery ofhydraulic fluid to hydraulic wheel motors connected to planetarygearsets that rotate the wheels 11, 17 and are suspended below ends ofsupporting axles 29 to provide high clearance to the implement 5 by wayof an open space between axes of rotation of the wheels 11, 17. Thehydraulic system 27 may be configured for delivering power to diagonallyaligned pairs of the wheels 11, 17 accordingly to an X-patterneddelivery configuration. An applicator arrangement 31 for delivering aliquid or dry product 33 onto an agricultural field is supported at theback end 21 of the implement 5. Product 33 may be fertilizer, herbicide,pesticide, and/or other agricultural product(s) in liquid or dry form.When the product 33 is a liquid product, the applicator arrangement 31includes a sprayer boom 35 for spraying the liquid product 33 onto thefield. When the product 33 is a dry product, the applicator arrangement31 includes a rotary broadcaster 37 for broadcast throwing the dryproduct 33 onto the field.

Still referring to FIG. 1, a product container 39 for storing the liquidor dry product 33 is arranged at least partially between the front andback ends 15, 21 of the implement 5. The product container 39 may definea vented enclosure for storing product 33, as a liquid product or anopen box for storing product 33 as a dry product, explained in greaterdetail elsewhere herein. The product container 39 includes multiplecontainer sections 41 storing liquid or dry product 33 such that thecontainer sections 41 store respective portions of the total volume ofproduct 33.

Still referring to FIG. 1, an outlet system 43 includes multiplevariable outlet arrangements 45 respectively arranged between themultiple container sections 41 and the applicator arrangement 31. Theoutlet system 43 is configured for controlling emptying characteristics,for example, sequentially emptying the container sections 41. This isdone by the outlet system 43 selectively permitting product 33 to flowfrom one of the container sections 41, past a respective one of themultiple variable outlet arrangements 45, and out of the applicatorarrangement 31. In this way, the product container 39 and the outletsystem 43 can be used to control weight distribution of the implement 5by allowing relatively more weight to be maintained for a relativelylonger period of time during a product application session at variousportions of the implement 5. The outlet system 43 is operably connectedto a control system 47 that includes a controller 49 and power supply51, as is known, for controlling the outlet system 43 by actuating ofthe variable outlet arrangements 45 to the product flow rate througheach of the variable outlet arrangements 45. The controller 49 caninclude an industrial computer or, e.g., a programmable logic controller(PLC), along with corresponding software and suitable memory for storingsuch software and hardware including interconnecting conductors forpower and signal transmission for controlling electronic,electro-mechanical, and hydraulic components of the outlet system 43.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the product 33 is shown as a liquid product 33Aand the product container 39 is shown as a liquid product container 39Aremovably mounted to the chassis 7 (FIG. 1) for delivering the liquidproduct 33A. Liquid product container 39A has a bottom wall 51interconnected to side and end walls 53, 55 and a top wall 57 thatcollectively define an enclosure 59 surrounding an inside space 61. Thecontainer sections 41 define a front section 63 arranged relativelycloser to the front end 15 of the implement 5 (FIG. 1) and a backsection 65 arranged relatively closer to the back end 21 of theimplement 5 (FIG. 1). An intermediate section 67 is arranged between thefront and back sections 63, 65. Divider walls 69 separate the containersections 41 from each other, such as adjacent pairs of the front, back,and intermediate sections 63, 65, 67.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the divider wall(s) 69 extends transverselyacross an entire width of the liquid product container 39A and thustransversely with respect to the implement 5. With the divider walks) 69extending transversely with respect to the implement 5, the containersections 41 are separated from each other by divider wall(s) 69 and arelongitudinally aligned with each other along a longitudinal axis 71 ofthe implement.

Referring again to FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the divider walls 69extend vertically along more than 1/2, for example, more than 2/3 of theheight of the liquid product container 39A. This configuration allowsfor filling all of the front, back, and intermediate sections 63, 65, 67with a single fill port 73 that extends through the top wall 57, bypermitting the liquid product 33A to spill over the tops of the dividerwalls 69 for filling all of the front, back, and intermediate sections63, 65, 67. In another embodiment, the divider walls 69 extend the fullheight of the liquid product container 39A, represented by the dashedline extensions of divider wall 69. In this configuration, each of thefront, back, and intermediate sections 63, 65, 67 has a correspondingport 73, two of which are shown in dashed line form in FIG. 2. It isunderstood that the port(s) 73 may be arranged toward the bottom of theproduct container 39 for embodiments in which the product container 39is bottom-loaded or bottom-filled.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the outlet system 43 may empty the containersections 41 according to an emptying strategy, such as in a sequence toempty the container sections 41 at different times, by controlling thevariable outlet arrangements 45. Each variable output arrangement 45 mayinclude a valve 75 that is movable between the open and closed positionsby way of an actuator 79 connected to the control system 47 withconductors 81. Moving the valve 75 between the open and closed positionscorrespondingly unblocks or blocks a flow path through a discharge tube83. The discharge tube 83 connects to a product delivery tube 85 that isoperably connected to the applicator arrangement 31 (FIG. 1) fordelivering the liquid product 33A onto the agricultural field. Sensors87 are mounted in each of the container sections 41 and are connectedwith conductors 81 to the control system 47 for determining the level ofliquid product 33A within each of the container sections 41 forevaluating when to empty the various container sections 41. Thesignal(s) from the sensors 87 allow the control system 47 to control theoutlet system 43 for emptying the container sections 41 at differenttimes. This may include a sensor(s) 87 sending a signal indicating thata container section 41 is empty or nearly empty, which may includedetecting whether there is or is not product within the containersection(s) 41 at a particular height at which the sensor(s) 87 ismounted, whereby the control system 47 commands the system 43 to emptyanother container section 41 or start a timer for counting down to startemptying another container section 41. In one embodiment, signals fromthe sensor(s) 87 are used by the control system 47 to indicate afill-level status of a container section(s) 41 through a display orotherwise to an operator to allow the operator to manually commandemptying of another container section, 41. In one embodiment, at leastsome of the sensors 87 of the product container 39, optionally sensorsmounted toward front and rear portions 13, 19 of the implement 5, areweight detecting. This allows the control system 47 to determine weightson the front and rear portions 13, 19 of the implement 5 based onsignals from such sensors and correspondingly control front-to-backweight distribution of the implement 5 by selectively unloading thecontainer sections 41 at different times and/or rates. In anotherembodiment, sight gauges are incorporated into the product container 39for determining fill levels of the container sections 41 instead of orin addition to sensors 87.

Referring now to FIG. 3, product container 39 is mostly identical tothat of FIG. 2, whereby such descriptions are applicable here withrespect to the product container 39 of FIG. 3. The product container 39of FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 2 in the following ways. The product33 is shown as a dry product 33B and the product container 39 is shownas a dry product container 39B removably mounted to the chassis 7(FIG. 1) for delivering the dry product 33B. It is noted that the liquidand dry product containers 39A, 39B may be interchangeably mounted tothe chassis 7 (FIG. 1) to allow implement 5 to apply both liquid and dryproduct 33A, 33B to the agricultural field. The dry product container39B defines an enclosure 59 that maintains the dry product 33B withinthe space 61, but has an open top wall in dry box-type configuration,unlike the totally enclosed liquid product container 39A. Within thevariable outlet arrangements 45, the valve 75 of the dry productcontainer 39B may define a gate-type valve 75 whereas the valve 75 ofthe liquid product container 39A may define a ball-type or pin-typevalve 75.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the outlet system 43 controls theemptying characteristics of the liquid or dry product containers 39A,39B by emptying the container sections 41 at different times accordingto an emptying strategy, based at least in part on a targetfront-to-back weight distribution of the implement 5. The emptyingstrategy allows the container sections 41 to be emptied at differenttimes to attenuate differences between a target front-to-back weightdistribution and an actual front-to-back weight distribution. Thisallows the actual front-to-back weight distribution to approximate thetarget front-to-back weight distribution for a relatively long period oftime during a product application session. Referring now to FIG. 4, thetarget front-to-back weight distribution may be a predetermined valuethat provides desired traction characteristics for the implement 5. Inone embodiment, the target front-to-back weight distribution is 50/50,front-to-back, whereby a center of gravity of the implement 5 as viewedfrom above would be defined at a halfway point between front and backwheels 11, 17 at the front-to-back split of the weight distribution.This allows the front and back wheels 11, 17 to apply substantiallyequal pressure to the ground, which may reduce wheel slipping atunder-weighted wheels and may prevent wheel sinking at over-weightedwheels.

Still referring to FIG. 4, the target front-to-back weight distributionis schematically represented by a circle labeled F-B_(Target), generallyaligned with the dashed line 22 dividing the front and back weightsegments F and B of the implement 5 at a longitudinal midpoint betweenthe front and back wheels 11, 17. The columns of squares and trianglesrepresent actual front-to-back weight distributions at different timesduring a product application session according to different emptyingstrategies. The container sections 41 may be arranged and controlled bythe outlet system 43 according to the emptying strategy so that duringthe product application session, the actual front-to-back weightdistribution starts with relatively more weight toward the light end ofthe implement 5. While emptying the container sections 41, the actualfront-to-back weight distribution may eventually transition past thetarget front-to-back weight distribution, for example, when all of thecontainer sections 41 are empty, but in a manner that allows the actualfront-to-back weight distribution value to remain close to the targetfront-to-back weight distribution value, such as within about plus orminus 10-percent or plus or minus 5-percent.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, the squares shown in FIG. 4 represent atop plan view of movement of the center of gravity and location of thefront-to-back split of the weight distribution according to exemplaryemptying strategy for trying to maintain weight toward the front end 15(FIG. 1) by initially emptying product from a container section(s) 41arranged closer to the back end 21. In one embodiment, this emptyingstrategy is used when the implement 5 is lighter toward the front end 15when the liquid or dry product container(s) 39A, 39B is empty. Thetriangles shown in FIG. 4 represent a top plan view of movement of thecenter of gravity and location of the front-to-back split of the weightdistribution according to exemplary emptying strategy for trying tomaintain weight toward the back end 21 (FIG. 1) by initially emptyingproduct from a container section(s) 41 arranged closer to the front end15. In one embodiment, this emptying strategy is used when the implement5 is lighter toward the back end 21 when the liquid or dry productcontainer(s) 39A, 39B is empty.

Referring again to FIG. 4, a square labeled F-B_(Full) represents alocation of the center of gravity of the implement 5 as viewed fromabove and therefore the location of the front-to-back split of theweight distribution when the liquid or dry product container(s) 39A, 39B(FIGS. 2 and 3) is full. This may be at a beginning of the productapplication session. A square labeled F-B_(First Empty) represents alocation of the center of gravity of the implement 5 as viewed fromabove and therefore the location of the front-to-back split of theweight distribution when the first container section 41 has beenemptied. This may correspond to when the back section 65 of the liquidor dry product container(s) 39A, 39B has been emptied during an initialproduct delivery phase of the product application session. A squarelabeled F-B_(All Empty) represents a location of the center of gravityof the implement 5 as viewed from above and therefore the location ofthe front-to-back split of the weight distribution when the allcontainer sections 41 has been emptied. This may correspond to when theintermediate and/or front container sections 67, 63 of the liquid or dryproduct container(s) 39A, 39B has been emptied during a subsequentproduct delivery phase(s) of the product application session.

Referring again to FIG. 4, a triangle labeled F-B_(Full) represents alocation of the center of gravity of the implement 5 as viewed fromabove and therefore the location of the front-to-back split of theweight distribution when the liquid or dry product container(s) 39A, 39B(FIGS. 2 and 3) is full. This may be at a beginning of the productapplication session. A triangle labeled F-B First Empty represents alocation of the center of gravity of the implement 5 as viewed fromabove and therefore the location of the front-to-back split of theweight distribution when the first container section 41 has beenemptied. This may correspond to when the back section 65 of the liquidor dry product container(s) 39A, 39B has been emptied during an initialproduct delivery phase of the product application session. A trianglelabeled F-B_(All Empty) represents a location of the center of gravityof the implement 5 as viewed from above and therefore the location ofthe front-to-back split of the weight distribution when the allcontainer sections 41 have been emptied. This may correspond to when theintermediate and/or front container sections 67, 63 of the liquid or dryproduct container(s) 39A, 39B have been emptied during a subsequentproduct delivery phase(s) of the product application session.

Referring now to FIG. 5 and with further reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, anexemplary method for controlling weight distribution in a self-propelledagricultural implement 5 is shown as represented by numeral 89. Asrepresented by block 91, product 33 is stored in multiple containersections 41 of a product container 39 on the self-propelled agriculturalimplement 5 for delivery onto an agricultural field. As represented byblocks 93, 95, respectively, the product 33 is a liquid product 33Astored in a liquid product container 39A or a dry product 33B stored ina dry product container 39B. As represented at block 97, a targetfront-to-back weight distribution of the implement is determined. Thismay be done for a liquid product delivery session and a dry productdelivery session. As represented at block 99, an emptying strategy isdetermined for emptying the container sections 41. As represented atblock 101, the strategy may be configured to attenuate differencesbetween the target front-to-back weight distribution and an actualfront-to-back weight distribution over time. This may be done for theliquid product delivery session and the dry product delivery session. Asrepresented at block 103, the product container 39 is emptied accordingto the emptying strategy by emptying the container sections 41 atdifferent times, for example, sequentially as represented by block 105.As represented at blocks 107 and 109, respectively, the containersections 41 emptied starting with the container section 41 closest tothe back end 21 end of the implement and moving toward the front end 15of the implement 5 or by starting with the container section 41 closestto the front end 15 end of the implement and moving toward the back end21 of the implement 5.

Many changes and modifications could be made to the invention withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof. The scope of these changes willbecome apparent from the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A self-propelled agricultural product application implement for delivering liquid or dry product to an agricultural field, the implement comprising: a chassis defining front and back ends and supporting a cab, an engine, and an applicator arrangement for delivering a liquid or dry product to an agricultural field; a product container for storing the liquid or dry product and arranged at least partially between the front and back ends of the chassis, the product container including multiple container sections storing respective portions of the liquid or dry product and separated from each other by at least one divider wall extending transversely with respect to the implement such that the multiple container sections are longitudinally aligned with each other along a longitudinal axis of the implement; and an outlet system including multiple variable outlet arrangements respectively arranged between the multiple container sections and the applicator arrangement, the outlet system configured for sequentially emptying the multiple container sections by selectively permitting product to flow from the one of the multiple container sections, past a respective one of the multiple variable outlet arrangements, and out of the applicator arrangement.
 2. The implement of claim 1, wherein the multiple container sections include a front section and a back section, and wherein a divider wall is arranged between the front and back sections of the product container.
 3. The implement of claim 2, wherein the product container includes at least one intermediate section arranged between the front and back sections and wherein a divider wall is arranged between each adjacent pair of the front, intermediate, and back sections of the product container.
 4. The implement of claim 2, wherein the product container includes at least one intermediate section arranged between the front and back sections and wherein a divider wall is arranged between each adjacent pair of the front, intermediate, and back sections of the product container. 